Mechanical properties and bioactivity of high-performance poly(etheretherketone)/carbon nanotubes/bioactive glass biomaterials

Poly(etheretherketone) (PEEK) is a rigid semicrystalline polymer that exhibits excellent mechanical properties and bone-like stiffness and is widely used in biomaterials. However, the development of PEEK-based bioinert materials has been impeded because PEEK lacks bioactivity. In this study, a series of PEEK/carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/bioactive glass (BG) ternary nanocomposites were produced using injection molding. BG was added to the composites in order to improve the bioactivity of the PEEK, and a novel method of adsorption and co-precipitation was used to add the CNTs to the composites in order to compensate for the deterioration in the mechanical properties of the PEEK caused by the addition of the BG. The microstructures of the composites were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the SEM images revealed that this method permits the uniform dispersion of the CNTs throughout the PEEK matrix. Further, the mechanical properties of the composites were significantly enhanced by the addition of the CNTs. The highest content of CNTs in the composites was 6 wt%. The composites containing 6 wt% CNTs and 4 wt% BG exhibited the same mechanical strength as the pure PEEK. The bioactivity of the PEEK when immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF) was improved by incorporating BG into the composites. These new ternary composite materials which exhibit satisfactory mechanical properties and a high degree of bioactivity have great potential to meet the demand for bone-substitute materials.